The German State Theatre (GSTT) was invited to participate at the International Multicultural Theatre Festival TRANZIT FESzT in Satu Mare with the performance "The Fire Raisers" by Max Frisch, directed by Gábor Tompa.

The performance will be on
Sunday, the 17th of September 2017, at 19 o’clock
in the Great Hall of the North Theatre Satu Mare.

The International Multicultural Theatre Festival TRANZIT FESzT will take place from the 14th till the 24th of September 2017 and it’s organized by the Romanian and Hungarian sections of the North Theatre Satu Mare. The TRANZIT FESzT Festival lies under the sign of multiculturalism and its purpose is to promote diversity within cultural expression. For ten days, Satu Mare spectators will have the opportunity to watch twenty shows from sixteen theatres and theatre companies from five countries.

Directing “The Fire Raisers” is attributed to Gábor Tompa, making this his first staging at the GSTT. Set and light design are done by Helmut Stürmer, costumes by Carmencita Brojboiu, masks by Ilona Varga-Járó, and video projections by Ovidiu Zimcea. The original music is composed Vasile Șirli, while Florin Fieroiu is the choreographer for the show. Cast reunites actors Franz Kattesch, Enikő Blénessy, Ioana Iacob, Radu Vulpe, Rareș Hontzu, Konstantin Keidel, Ida Jarcsek-Gaza, Olga Török, Dana Borteanu, Isa Berger, Isolde Cobeț, Tatiana Sessler-Toami, Silvia Török, Oana Vidoni and Anne-Marie Waldeck.


”The Fire Raisers” parable – entitled in subtitle as “a didactic play without a moral” – speaks of the failure of the common man to take action against an imminent threat: strangers show up one by one in the cosmetics producer Biedermann house. Although scandalized at the information in the press on how the disguised fire starters find pretexts to get into people’s homes in order to set them on fire, Biedermann does nothing against the intruders in his own home. The grotesque comic and the critical accents accompany the action’s development towards an outcome, which with each step becomes inevitable. Frisch started work on the text in 1948 and the world premiere was in 1958 in Zürich, followed shortly by over 50 stagings in theatres in various countries. The lack of reaction on behalf of the lead character was sometimes interpreted as a reflection on the conduit the allowed the ascension of a dictator such as Adolf Hitler.

Andreea Andrei – Artistic Consultant
Gabriela Schinderman – Secretariat

Photo: Image from “The Fire Raisers”, a GSTT production. The photograph can be used in mass-media and promotional goals, including in electronic media.